


Happy Endings

by bookwormchocaholic



Series: Dark Night Series [4]
Category: Beauty and the Beast (1991), Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Books, F/M, Friendship, Library, Love, happy endings, morte d'arthur
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-22
Updated: 2015-09-22
Packaged: 2018-04-22 22:17:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4852580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookwormchocaholic/pseuds/bookwormchocaholic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place in between Chapters 10 and 11.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Happy Endings

Belle paced the floor, hands behind her back, trying to decide what book to read next. There were, oh so many! More than Dr. Hopper’s bookshop even. Three times as much, perhaps. The library of the Dark Castle was her favorite room and spent as much time as she could in it. She stole a peak of the mysterious man in the corner.

Mr. Gold was on the bench at his spinning wheel, feeding the wool through that ancient contraption. His fingers were nimble, roughened from work but moved gently. There was a nobility about him that other gentlemen did not have. Round and round the wheel went, he compressed the peddle with the toe of his foot. For a man with very little patience, he was on hour three of his spinning. Since Gaston attacked her, Mr. Gold had been like a completely different person. Or perhaps he was more himself than he had been in a long time. 

_Who would have thought that we could be friends?_ Belle mused to herself. True, he was no Prince Charming but there was something in him that she hadn’t seen before. 

She turned back to the books and mounted the ladder to get a better glimpse of those volumes up high that whispered her name. A dark green book captured her attention. She recognized it immediately and could hardly contain her enthusiasm. Were she not grown, she’d squeal. 

“What are you doing?” Mr. Gold abandoned his spinning wheel and was near the foot of the ladder within seconds. 

Belle removed it from the shelf and showed him the cover. “Oh, this is one of my favorites! ‘Le Morte d’Arthur.’ Have you ever read it?”

“No, I am afraid not.” He said, sounding flustered. 

“You don’t know what you are missing.” She said. 

Her foot rested too far back on the rung so when she leaned back, she lost her balanced. 

Mr. Gold caught her around the waist and though she took him down with her, he was able to cushion the fall. She rolled off of him almost instantly. They lay sprawled out on their backs on the floor. More dazed at first than hurt. 

Belle was the first to get her bearings. She sat up and laid her hand on his chest. “Mr. Gold, I’m so sorry. Are you all right?” 

She waited for the yelling to commence and was surprised to hear him chuckle instead. That was perhaps the first time she had seen him give a genuine laugh. He looked so much younger when he smiled. 

“I’m fine.” He too sat up and rubbed the lower half of his back. “A little too old to take a fall like that, but fine.”

“Thanks are in order-”

“It’s no matter.” He mumbled. 

Belle rolled her eyes. “You always say that when you do something nice.” 

Only then did she realize that her hand was still on his chest. He felt warm and his heart beat picked up. She withdrew from him and got to her feet. Offering her hand, she helped him up. He brushed the wrinkles from his slacks and readjusted his collar. 

“Le Morte d’Arthur” was off to the side, not too far from where they landed. Belle retrieved it and couldn’t help but gush, “I would love to read this again. Here, how about you start and then when you get tired, I will continue.” She suggested. 

Mr. Gold looked panic-stricken. “No, that is all right.”

He kept her – everyone in fact- at an arm’s length but there was one aspect of his disposition that he could not hide from her. It was the one thing he could not mask underneath his sneers and his sarcasm. 

He was shy. 

In comparison to Gaston and his boisterousness, Mr. Gold’s reserved nature was refreshing. He just needed a little reassuring and support that she wouldn’t laugh at him. 

“No, really, you have a nice strong voice and your brogue will enhance the narration. Perfect for reading aloud.” Belle insisted. 

“Oh, no, you…”

“No, you-”

“No! I can’t!” He snapped. “Just leave it alone, all right?” That old, hard look had resurfaced. The one he wore often and he only recently had taken off for her. 

Belle hugged the book to her stomach. She wasn’t fooled. He did this as a protective measure. Lashing out at others was his way to ensure that no one could what truly resided in that heart of his. 

“Why? Please, tell me.” She asked softly.

Mr. Gold’s grip tightened on the handle of his cane. “I can’t read French.” He said. “I never learned.”

Most of the gentry class was fluent in French. Even though lower classes had some knowledge of the language. With her family having French heritage, her mother insisted that she have a thorough knowledge of the language. 

This little fact helped her understand that he had not been raised a gentleman. He was not what he was today. He had come from meager beginnings. 

_Never despise meager beginnings._ Mother had often told her. 

Belle said. “Oh.” She lowered herself on the chaise lounge and patted the empty cushion beside her. “Come here, sit by me then and I’ll read it to you.”

Mr. Gold blinked his surprise. Instead of balking at her, he did as bidden. Gradually the mask fell away once more. 

#

Adam shifted in the chaise. His knee was throbbing but it wasn’t bad enough to end this enjoyable moment. Now and then his mind wandered, but for the most part he was able to concentrate on the story. Or at least Belle’s voice. To his satisfaction, he was able to watch her for as long as he pleased on the pretense that he was listening to her read. 

“‘And right as Arthur did at Christmas, he did at Candlemas, and pulled out the sword easily, whereof the barons were sore aggrieved and put it off in delay till the high feast of Easter…’” Belle paused to take a breath. She reached for the glass of water and took a sip, then put the glass back down. 

He couldn’t help but tease her a little. “And he is king. He lived happily-ever-after. The end.” He smirked. 

“Patience, Mr. Gold.” She pursed her lips and gave him one her scolding looks. 

“That is not one of my best qualities.” Adam stared at the green book. For the longest time he didn’t give a damn that he couldn’t read French or Latin. The way he had been brought up, he wouldn’t have had any use for those languages. But when Belle suggested that he read this book aloud, he had been embarrassed at first over the deficiencies in his education. Yet somehow she was able to smooth all of that over, as she often smoothed his rough edges. “I never fail to be amazed when books and spinning do that.”

“Do what?” She asked. 

“Take me away from this place, make me forget for a little while.”

“Forget? Forget what?”

“I guess it worked.” Adam said. 

He was being ridiculous, making all of these silly jokes- some of which were not at all funny- but when he got a giggle out of her, he decided it was worth it. Well, at least she liked his quips. Teasing her and her acting all prim- it made him feel as they were an old married couple that bickered and then would make up. If only they could have a real marriage, nothing would satisfy him more.

“You know. The past.” He cocked his head. “Who I…What I am…”

Belle studied him for a minute then averted her gaze. “We have something in common, you know.”

“What on earth could you have in common with me, dearie?” He asked. 

He was darkness and she was light. One could not touch the other without being defiled. It was as simple as that.

Belle had bristled when he called her dearie. “Don’t ‘dearie’ me.” She said. 

“All right.” Adam licked his lips. “Would darling suit you?” 

“That’s better.” She sighed. “In Ashby, everyone thinks I am odd.”

Adam blinked and leaned back. The words “Belle” and “odd” did not belong. Not in his mind. She was not like other girls; she was the exception to the rule. “You? Why? You’re perfect…perfectly normal.” 

“I don’t know, you would have to ask them. So, I know how it feels to be…different. And I know how lonely that can be to not have a place in this world. So I read about other worlds and feel at home there.” Belle managed a smile and resumed her place in the book.

As she continued to read, Adam wondered who on earth would make her feel out of place. Perhaps it was her foolish father or one of her featherbrained sisters. Or that idiot Gaston Harcourt. Whoever it was, when he got his hands on them…

She snapped the book shut. They must have come to the end of a chapter. 

“I told you so…The happy ending.” Adam said but when he saw her crestfallen expression, he wondered if he had gone a step too far. “You look sad. Why?”

Belle nibbled on one of her fingernails. “I was thinking that only in books is there a happily ending. Life never really measures up.” She said in a small voice. 

Another quip was on the tip of his tongue, but choked it down. If there was one thing he knew, it was that life never turned out the way one planned. He had had dreams, wants and desires. None of them came true or lasted long. But he couldn’t tell her that; it would only make her feel worse. Belle was young, too young to lose out on hope. Even though he had lost his happy ending, he want Belle to get hers, whatever it might be. 

Taking a breath, he ventured to rest his hand on top of hers. He didn’t want her to get the wrong impression, that at this moment he wasn’t trying to be anything more than her friend. “That isn’t true. I think at some point, we all get a happy ending. For some it lasts a long while, for others it is a delicate flame and once it’s gone it’s gone forever.” 

“Bae?” Belle whispered. 

Adam nodded. He worked at swallowing the lump in his throat. “You will find your happy ending, Belle. I promise. Just have faith.” He urged. 

“All right.” Belle edged forward and brushed her lips against his cheek. “But you must believe that for yourself too.”

Adam sucked in a breath but felt himself nod again. 

In regards to happy endings, he had gotten lucky the first time around. Bae had been the greatest blessing in his life. He wasn’t sure he could be that lucky again. 

A second happy ending… that would be Belle becoming his wife and staying with him for forever. Was that even a possibility, especially when he had no idea what her happy ending was?

**Author's Note:**

> http://bookwormchocaholic.tumblr.com/post/129650830639/dark-night-of-the-soul-happy-endings


End file.
